EMËHNTËHTT-RÊ TRILOGIE

12 CD BOX-SET + 80 PAGES BOOKLET – Free shipping – 12 CDs –35 musicians – 500 minutes of Music !

You have to see Magma live at least once in your life !

For Magma, live performance is essential. Live performance allows – and forgives – no mistakes. You give your all, all at once. You are on a tight-rope, with no safety net… t is too late for thought. The body, the hands and the instinct speak first; the fruit of reflection. This planned spontaneity, these raw sounds, this savage energy at concerts make live performance a wonderful experience.

Köhnzert Zünd puts together is a sumptuous box set, all the band’s official live shows, recorded between 1975 and 2000. On top of which are two extra records made of excerpts from shows given between 2005 and 2011, as well as two unreleased records of the unforgettable 2009 concert given at the Alhambra in Paris.

MAGMA LIVE KÖHNTARK – 1975 – remastered :
KOHNTARKOSZ PART 1 & 2 ËMËHNTËHTT-Ré (announcement)
MAGMA LIVE HHAÏ – 1975 – remastered:
HHAÏ – KOBAH – LIHNS – DA ZEUHL WORTZ MËKANÏK – MËKANÏK ZAÏN
RETROSPEKTIW 1 – 1980 – remastered: THEUSZ HAMTAAHK
RETROSPEKTIW 2 – 1980 – remastered: MËKANÏK DËSTRUKTÏW KÖMMANDÖH
RETROSPEKTIW 3 – 1980 – remastered: RETROVISION – HHAÏ – LA DAWOTSÏN
TRIANON THEUSZ HAMTAAHK – 2000 – remixed: THEUSZ HAMTAAHK
TRIANON WURDAH ITAH – 2000 – remixed: WURDAH ITAH
TRIANON MEKANIK DESTRUKTIW KOMMANDOH – 2000 – remixed: MËKANÏK DËSTRUKTÏW KÖMMANDÖH
TRITON ZELEKT ZUND 1 – 2005 – version audio remastered:
STOAH-DE FUTURA-THE LAST SEVEN MINUTES-NONO- OTIS- KOBAÏA
TRITON ZELEKT ZUND 2 – 2011 – version audio remastered:
RIAH SAHILTAAHK-DONDAÏ-SLAG TANZ-MAAHNT
ALHAMBRA 1 – 2009 – fully unpublished concert: ËMËHNTËHTT-RÉ I-II-III-IV- FUNEHRARIUM KAHNT
ALHAMBRA 2 – 2009 – fully unpublished concert: FELICITÉ THOSZ – SËHNTËHNDËH (gospel)
Only multitracks recording.

Finally, music to set the cat among the pigeons… Magma are the dynamite that will explode the conventions of a music scene that is becoming rather too self-satisfied with its own beauty… Magma are unlike anything that has gone before…

So people were saying in 1970.

In 2015, nearly half a century later, this is truer than ever and the new mini-album Slag Tanz (pronounced schlag tanz ), this veritable symphony of jazz metal that has erupted from nowhere, radiates with all Magma s singular intensity!

The original version of RÏAH SAHÏLTAAHK was recorded in 1971 and appears on the album 1001°C. At the time, Christian Vander, the composer, wasn’t satisfied with the arrangement written by the band.This new version is completely revamped and adapted to the current ensemble and its lyrical voices, it is truer to the spirit of MAGMA’s music and its unique sound!

RÏAH SAHÏLTAAHK is the name of the Kobaïan who left after all the others, despite their disapproval. He thought he was better than anyone else and he was sure he could convert Kobaïa’s enemies to the Kobaïan spirit. But he failed and left alone for Kobaïa. On the symbolic stop-over planet, Malaria, he has to face the raging elements he thinks he can dominate. With his ship almost sunk, he ends up begging them… to no avail.

He will disappear. Drowned, swept away by the frenzied elements.

After the noise… silence.

Having emerged unscathed from STAR WARS, don’t just sit there waiting for the end of the world.Take a leap into the MAGMA Universe and grab their new studio album which is not to be missed under any circumstances: a trip which will lead you from Japan to the Urals via Central Asia with a detour to pay homage to Tamla Motown. Already aired in concert under the title Felicite Thosz and well-attended by legions of the band’s fans, the piece is dominated by the celestial voice of  Stella Vander and is a formidable mix of all the sonic colours which has made this cult band absolutely uncategorizable!

At the doors of immortality, dreams the Great Servant of Ptah, God of creation drifting infinitely within his own mind, as he tries to awaken Him.

Double CD – AVAILABLE IN FRANCE ONLY ON SEVENTH RECORDS MAIL ORDER PAGE

A must for MAGMA fanatics, fans and freaks everywhere. An opportunity not to be missed. For the first time ever, the full set of 9 incredible studio albums – from Kobaia to K.A – in deluxe digipack form. Each volume has its own 32 to 48 page booklets, containing photos and previously unpublished documents re-telling the story of MAGMA in 9 detailed chapters. Also includes a bonus double CD of archive documents: the first demo recorded by the band in 1970, the original sound track from the film 24 heures seulement recorded that same year by the line-up playing on the first album, a demo version of MDK with just rhythm section and a vocal guide track , and a version of Eliphas Levi with drums.

So. After 20 years of evading the point Christian Vander has finally deigned to the return to the masterwork style which brought us all to his door in the first place. With our tongues hanging out. Of all the many noble attempts of the prog rockers to create a grand compositional style which blended elements from classical music with rock, none, in my view, ever reached the intensity, complexity and raw savage excitement of the great Magma masterworks such as M.D.K, Kohntarkosz, Theusz Hamtaahk, etc…
Now it’s one thing to rest on your laurels and quite another to come back after such a great amount of time and to try and completely re-capture the original essence of your art. So many come backs have turned into let-downs ; and thus it is with some trepidation that I approached listening to K.A. I had seen many of the great Magma line-ups of the seventies performing these classics live. So the other question in my mind was : could the present band do it ?
All of you out there reading this will be delirious to know that it is almost as if time stood still. Of course K.A itself was composed 30 years ago and is the missing link between MDK and Kohntarkosz but that is hardly the point. K.A is the real thing. The hypnotic tension, the explosive climaxes, the fantastic pyrotechnic drumming, the massive and intricate vocal arrangements, the gut-wrenching bass lines and the classical pomposity fused with almost jungle-strength R n& B – all the hallmarks of Christian Vander’s special genius are found here intact.
I have nothing further to say except that we got lucky. Buy it.

Recorded in Paris at the Theatre du Trianon during the 30th Magma anniversary celebration.

The complete THEUSZ HAMTAAHK Trilogy
Triple digipack  + 16 pages colour booklet + 80 pages lyrics booklet in a wraparound. For the first time ever, the complete lyrics to the Trilogy.

Since November 1996 and the return of MAGMA to the stage there have been a high proportion of sell-out concerts; usually the audience included many teenagers who were amazed to discover this music, the existence of which they had never suspected. KOMPILA was released at the end of 1997 to help them discover the splendours of the Kobaian repertoire. The 22 extracts featured on this album cover MAGMA’s journey from KOBAIA (1970) through to HHAI/LIVE, which was released five years later. The masterworks which are the basis of the group’s legend are all visited: KOBAIA, STOAH, RIAH SAHILTAAHK, THEUSZ HAMTAAHK, WURDAH ITAH, MEKANIK DESTRUKTIW KOMMANDOH, KOHNTARKOSZ and HHAI. Carefully selected, these extracts provide an easy introduction to MAGMA and show the perfect internal coherence of Christian VANDER’s musical output. At a promotional price, this is CD is too good to miss.

An introduction to the universe according to MAGMA, MYTHES ET LEGENDES highlights the themes composed by Christian VANDER at the beginning of the 1970s. Extracts are found here from KOBAIA, 1001 CENTIGRADES and the three movements of the trilogy THEUSZ HAMTAAHK, including, for the first time, KLAUS KOHMBALAD, the long version of the coda of RIAH SAHILTAAHK. Nicely blended into the music, the speaking voices of Christian and Stella VANDER and Guy KHALIFA link the different titles to give us the keys which enable us to go deeper into this totally original music. Their presence breathes a life and warmth into the record which is diametrically opposed to the insipid succession of disconnected titles so often heard on compilation albums.

Released in 1985 and dedicated to John COLTRANE, MERCI is the last studio album by MAGMA to be released before Christian VANDER dedicated himself to his new group, OFFERING. Recorded between June 1982 and October 1984 at Studio Davout, with the help of a galaxy of musician friends, MERCI perfectly demonstrates the seamless transition from the electric music of MAGMA to the acoustic serenity of OFFERING. The album is, in effect, divided into two sections. The four opening titles present the MAGMA rhythm’n blues of the early 1980s, a cool, soul-wrapped unit full of melodic richness, and embellished with fabulous brass and vocal arrangements. The final two pieces by contrast are in a stripped-down, purified style which declares what the quest of OFFERING will be to touch the human being in the depths of his soul via a music which has been reduced to its essentials.

After an opening cycle of 7 years marked by magnificent albums and memorable concerts, Christian VANDER tired of having the feeling that he was only playing for a elitist clique of insiders, in effect locking him into a sort of musical ghetto. Thus ATTAHK, recorded at the end of 1977, sees the beginning of an attempt to win a wider audience by taking MAGMA in a new direction. Consisting of seven short titles, ATTAHK, by comparison with the earlier discs, offers a simplified music which is much more accessible. This doubting of the form does not however change in any way the basis of VANDER ‘s musical concept, nor does it lose even in the slightest degree its power of fascination. Suited as much to the body as the soul, the music radiates a brutal physical energy comparable to rock, and shocks the listener as greatly as KOBAIA (1970). In ATTAHK, VANDER also reveals for the first time his immense vocal ability and succeeds in the tour de force of making his music more open without betraying the spirit of MAGMA for even a moment.

Released in 1977, INEDITS features 6 titles regularly played in concert but never recorded in the studio by any of the different MAGMA line-ups which existed between June 1972 and January 1975. Mostly recorded with whatever equipment was to hand, either in concert or at rehearsals, these recordings nevertheless have a good sound and are an essential part of the history of the band. Although the musical interest is constant throughout the album, the highlights nevertheless are the two opening titles, which bring the incredible bass playing of Jannik TOP to the fore.

UDU WUDU (1976) saw the return of Jannick TOP to the heart of MAGMA, a reunion desired passionately by Christian VANDER, who asked Jannick to collaborate as co-leader in the creation of this record. The new MAGMA line-up not being final at the time the recording took place, the basics of the work were laid down by VANDER and TOP, who besides their usual instruments brilliantly integrated the keyboard parts into the tracks. The musical voyage into which they draw us is performed in two sections, the first containing short pieces with diverse atmospheres and styles, which use the brass and flutes of the early albums, and the the second comprising the 18 minute composition by Jannick TOP, DE FUTURA. Completely dfferent in apearance, the two sections are in fact complementary, the first being designed to put the listener in the most receptive state of mind before the arrival of the music cataclysm represented by DE FUTURA. A monumental work, this piece generates, by means of the titanic force of the bass and drums, an incredible power which gives it the unquestionable status of a mythic work.

After the departure in autumn of 1974 of Jannick TOP and most of the other members of the band, MAGMA rose phoenix-like from the ashes with a new, hot, line-up which saw the musical opportunity lying before it. After long rehearsals Christian VANDER realised that he had yet another exceptional groupand the decision was taken to record the first MAGMA live album. The recording, made in June 1975 at the Taverne de l’Olympia, perfectly demonstrates the incredible impact made by MAGMA. Absolutely dedicated to the music of Christian VANDER, who by that time had reached the summit of his art, the band plays as if it were one man and sweeps all before it in its triumphant passage. Whether it was a new arrangement of any of the old pieces (KOHNTARK, KOBAIA, MEKANIK) or a previously-unheard piece (HHAI, LIHNS), the sound of MAGMA has never been heard more powerfully as on this incredible recording. Although it remains difficult to point to any one performance as being outstanding, it would nevertheless be difficult not to react to the mind-blowing performance by Didier Lockwood, whose violin playing contributes so greatly to the profound originality of this magnificent double-album.

Not being a man who tended to sit on his laurels Christian VANDER decided, with KOHNTARKOSZ, recorded in 1974, to set off in a completely new musical direction, putting anyone who expected a simple encore to MEKANIK DESTRUKTIW KOMMANDOH straight onto the back foot.
Fortified by the success of the last album, the majority of musicians would be delighted to lay back into their own style and play safe. Not so for VANDER, who was driven to surpass himself, to bring to birth a new masterwork. Considered against the other albums, KOHNTARKOSZ (the composition) used a profoundly original approach
to lift the rhythmic pulse and float it above the music, so that instead of marking time it continually sits above the metre. The savage virtuoso drumming of the earlier albums is here replaced by a more restrained approach, in which every stick hit seems to weigh twenty tons by contrast. The result is a mysterious incandescent atmosphere which holds the listener in breathless thrall right up to the explosive finale.
If, when compared with M.D.K., the sound of the band has changed significantly, with the monster bass foundation laid down by Jannick TOP and the other-worldly keyboard playing come to the fore at the expense of the vocal work, the spirit of MAGMA nevertheless remains intact. This spirit is also found in ORK ALARM, TOP’s first composition for MAGMA, and the final piece, COLTRANE SUNDIA, a vibrant and heartfelt tribute to John COLTRANE, the inspiration for all this marvellous music.

The soundtrack for Yvan LAGRANGE’s film TRISTAN Y ISEULT, WURDAH ITAH was recorded in April 1974, just one month before the sessions which produced KOHNTARKOSZ. It forms the second movement of THEUSZ HAMTAAHK, an epic work in three movements of which MEKANIK DESTRUKTIW KOMMANDOH, recorded a year earlier by MAGMA, forms the final part. Performed by the core players in MAGMA at that time – Christian VANDER (piano, drums, vocals), Jannick TOP (bass), Klaus BLASQUIZ (vocals, percussion) and Stella VANDER (vocals) – WURDAH ITAH is music stripped down to its bare essence. Although a total contrast to the splendour and orchestral power of M.D.K., it nevertheless has just as great rhythmic power and surprising vocal lyricism, unquestionably marked by the claws of MAGMA.

MEKANIK DESTRUKTIW KOMMANDOH is considered by many to be the ultimate MAGMA masterwork. Recorded in 1973 at the Manor Studios in Oxford by a completely new line-up, the sole sur../VIVOrs from the previous incarnation of MAGMA were Klaus BLASQUIZ and, of course, Christian VANDER himself. A long piece in 7 movements, M.D.K. had an extended gestation period before reaching its final, definitive form. The previous band had recorded a short version – dominated by the brass section – which was released on a 45 rpm single. The progression from this simple version to what is heard on the album is astounding. The entire credit for this achievement is down to Christian VANDER, who by this time had taken the artistic destiny of MAGMA fully into his own hands. Although the performance of the band was an order of magnitude more powerful than before – notably with the arrival of Jannick Top on bass, whose playing complemented Christian VANDER’s music so perfectly – then perhaps the most striking characteristic of M.D.K. was the epic sound produced by the vocal team. Driven by a colossal, giant-stepping rhythm section and dynamically reinforced by a female backing group – with Stella VANDER appearing for the first time – the voices of Klaus and Christian come to haunt our souls through these magnificent songs which seem to emerge from our collective memory, conferring MAGMA’s music with a timeless and universal character.

MAGMA returned to the studio in 1971 to record its second album, 1001° CENTIGRADE. By this time the guitarist Claude Engel had quit the group and the brass section was re-invigorated by the arrival of Jeff SEFFER on sax and Louis TOESCA on trumpet. All the factors contributing to the originality and grandeur of KOBAIA remained in place, reaching a more profound form in this second opus. If the two pieces composed by Teddy LASRY and Francois CAHEN allowed a more jazz-oriented tendency to filter through, it is in RIAH SAHILTAAHK where we hear the ideas presented on the first album developed with the greatest power. At over 20 minutes, this Christian VANDER composition is astounding, as much by its richness and incredible variety of themes as by the perfectly-disciplined rhythmic force; moreover, it showcases the fullness and diversity of the brass section, although its role became progressively less important as time went on. RIAH SAHILTAAHK anticipates the forthcoming masterpieces such as MEKANIK, KOHNTARKOSZ and THEUSZ HAMTAAHK.

At the end of the 1960s – a time when the French seemed to be willing tolerate the total domination of their music by Anglo-Saxon influences – Christian VANDER founded MAGMA. In doing so he declared his intention to create a different type of music, with an essentially European identity. The first, double, album by MAGMA, KOBAIA (1970) realises this objective and indeed, surpasses all expectations. A cry of revolt and hatred against this Earth – which suffocates humanity and yet absolutely governs its activity – the music of MAGMA synthesises a wide range of influences

STRAVINSKY, BARTOK, COLTRANE, BACH, jazz, rock, rhythm and blues…. and the result is a totally new musical language, disconcerting at first hearing, and yet which soon reveals an unsuspected magnificence. Although the line-up is classic, the revolutionary character of this album results from the originality of the rhythm section, which is totally relentless, the tidal-wave brass section, used in a completely new way, and the extraordinary singing, using an invented language, which tells us that from here on out, nothing will be as it was before